The City of Providence has an extremely high owner-occupied Homestead Exemption (50%) in comparison to other towns/municipalities in Rhode Island

As a result of this high Homestead Exemption, it is extremely difficult for the property tax working group to identify ways to restructure that will improve the City's competitiveness, balance, and equity

A sharp reduction in the Homestead Exemption from the existing, while maintaining the same levy, would result in a dramatic shift from non-owner occupied property tax rates to owner occupied property tax rates

Typical Property Tax Structure For Providence

The typical property tax structure would have features as follows:

10% Homestead Exemption

Residential Rate $17.72 ($15.95 effective)

Commercial Rate $31.90 (2x effective residential rate

Tangible Rate $47.85 (3x effective residential rate)

Motor Vehicle Rate $50 (1st $1,000 exempt)

Make's Providence much more business competitive, reducing both the commercial tax rate and the tangible tax rate by 13.2% and 14.2% respectively

Keeps the owner occupied residential tax rate at $15.95, which is competitive with the other towns and municipalities across Rhode Island

Reduces non-owner occupied tax rate by 34.6%, making rates more competitive with other towns and municipalities across Rhode Island, while also encouraging investment

Reduces the motor vehicle rate by 16.7%, making it more competitive with other towns and municipalities across Rhode Island